Phonetic Fragments: Azadeh Gholizadeh & Elnaz Javani

The works of Elnaz Javani and Azadeh Gholizadeh narrate the experiences of diasporic identity in relation to body and space. The show’s premise lies in the inherent qualities of the materials used by both artists. The works included in this show explores how picture‐making within a craft structure can create a place and sense of belonging through storytelling. Elnaz Javani’s practice links and juxtaposes her experience with fictional narratives. These narratives lie in the intersections of identity, gender, labor, and power relations. Through material manipulations, Javani creates objects and surfaces that constitute the purview of the corporeal and psychological stratum of the human body. Azadeh Gholizadeh explores the body, landscape, and fragmentation of memory to navigate the idea of home. Interested in the relationship between landscape and memory, Azadeh uses weaving and needle pointing to explore her emotional connection to belonging, a journey toward home.

Both artists investigate the material and the possibilities of hand processes such as stitching, weaving, dye, and fiber. Through these repetitive and labor‐intensive practices, they examine how attention and power can be redirected and reconstituted as a form of body and devotion. The objects, dialogues shaped in these processes create a visual place to take refuge.

Elnaz Javani is an artist and educator currently residing in Chicago. She works between textiles,drawing, print, soft objects and installations. Her practice revolves around the fragmentation of identity and place, power dynamics and labor. She holds an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies From the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she was the recipient of the New Artist Society Merit Scholarship, and a BFA from Tehran University of Art. Javani was awarded a Faculty Enrichment Grant from SAIC, a Spark Grant from Chicago Artist Coalition, the Kala Art Institute Fellowship Award and Residency Grant, the Define American Art Fellowship Grant, and the Hyde Park Art Center Flex Space Residency Award.

Azadeh Gholizadeh is a Chicago-based artist and educator. Born in Tehran, she received her MA in architecture from Iran University of Science and Technology and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Interested in the relationship between landscape and memory, Azadeh explores the body, landscape, and fragmentation of memory as a way to navigate the idea of home. In 2021, Gholizadeh was a finalist for the Hopper Prize. In 2020, the artist was a finalist for the Chicago Artadia Award and the American Mulism Futures award. In 2017, Gholizadeh was the recipient of a Brenda Green Gender Inclusivity Scholarship for participation in the ACRE Residency program.